topic Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5? in CAD/GIS Data Integration Questions

Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

MandyCostley — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 16:19:09 GMT

Does anyone have any experience with Autocad 2018? The latest release doesn't seem to be compatible with ArcMap Desktop 10.5. I've tried running the CAD to GDB tool and adding the files in the table contents - both are coming up blank, when they would work fine with the previous Autocad 2017.

I'm not very familiar with Autocad, but the drawing comes up with no issues in the cad environment.

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

KarenHodge — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 06:14:22 GMT

AutoCAD 2018 introduces a new file format. It is not currently supported in ArcMap or Pro. It is expected to be supported in a future release.

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

GaryMartin1 — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 12:24:29 GMT

Ian,

I'm currently running Autocad 2018 with 10.3.1. After a lot of experimentation, I have found that saving your drawings to an older version (2013) will allow you to add them normally without any problem. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you. I plan to upgrade to 10.5.1 soon. Good luck.

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

AdrianWelsh — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 13:27:43 GMT

Thanks Gary. I believe this should work. Looking back at this thread:

https://community.esri.com/message/708866-re-nothing-in-attribute-table-for-dwg-layers?commentID=708866#comment-708941

That was the solution there and it worked for him.

Also, here is an Idea‌ can be voted up for allowing support for AutoCAD 2018:

AutoCAD 2018

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

GaryMartin1 — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 12:04:02 GMT

Adrian,

So you were able to insert your AutoCAD 2018 drawings into ArcGIS 10.5 this way?

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

DanPatterson_Retired — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 22:44:33 GMT

If you read Adrian's link... save it to an older version seems to be the way to go

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

AdrianWelsh — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 14:30:51 GMT

Gary,

To copy what Dan said, first save it down to an older version (not in the AutoCAD 2018 version). Then you can insert the drawings. Down the line there will be more compatibility. But for now, this is what needs to be done.

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

GaryMartin1 — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 11:37:57 GMT

Updated to 10.5.1 with AutoCAD Civil 3D 2018 and it still works fine.

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

CliffSkees — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 18:46:24 GMT

This is still an issue. I just upgraded to 10.5.1 and 2018 this week and had this problem. None of my .dwgs were created in 2018 but they all took its format once installed. So now any dwg I want to drop in, I first must open and back save. That's not efficient at all.

So will there be a patch for 10.5.1 ? Or for AutoCAD 2018 to fix this? Or has there been since this post was originally posted in June?

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

GaryMartin1 — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 12:12:18 GMT

Cliff,

AutoCAD doesn't convert your drawings when you install it. At least not in Windows. Your drawings are still in their original version until you open and save them in AutoCAD 2018. You can change a variable so that each time you save, the drawings will be saved to an earlier version of your choice.

To set the default file save format in the AutoCAD Options:

Type OPTIONS on the AutoCAD command line.
In the Options dialog, go to the "Open and Save" tab.
In the "File Save" > "Save as" drop-down menu, set the desired file format.
Click OK.

Hope this helps. I wouldn't expect any help form AutoCAD, this is an ESRI issue.

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

JakubSisak — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 17:43:22 GMT

Short term solution without AutoCAD - install DWG True View (an official Autodesk DWG viewer), convert the file to 2013 version. This will also handle all X-REFs and other references and downgrade all to whathever older version you choose. Backup your original 2018 DWG before converting.

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

JayGeisen — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 14:06:24 GMT

Does anyone know if AutoCAD 2018 files can be read in 10.6?

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

JustinConnerWR — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 12:41:46 GMT

Will 10.6.1 support AutoCAD 2018?

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

AdrianWelsh — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 14:45:43 GMT

Jay,

I am not sure. I am guessing not yet? The only way to know is to try. Either way, there is a workaround as stated above. Either:

Short term solution without AutoCAD - install DWG True View (an official Autodesk DWG viewer), convert the file to 2013 version. This will also handle all X-REFs and other references and downgrade all to whathever older version you choose. Backup your original 2018 DWG before converting.

I have found that saving your drawings to an older version (2013) will allow you to add them normally without any problem.

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

JustinConnerWR — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 14:53:10 GMT

The feedback I received from ESRI support is that this can't be registered as a bug since it's a new AutoCAD release, and it isn't supported in 10.6 or Pro (Supported CAD formats in ArcGIS—Help | ArcGIS Desktop ). They won't prioritize 2018 integration unless they get enough complaints to see it as critical for their users, and ESRI won't release 2018 support as a patch for any existing Desktop version.

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

JasonDickeson1 — Thu, 05 Jul 2018 16:01:25 GMT

So where do we go to lodge a complaint and get this moving up the list?

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

DanPatterson_Retired — Thu, 05 Jul 2018 16:26:57 GMT

You might have better luck with launching an Idea ArcGIS Ideas‌

Re: Autocad 2018 incompatible with with ArcGIS Desktop 10.5?

JustinConnerWR — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 08:48:39 GMT

up-vote the https://community.esri.com/ideas/13841 idea